Opportunity for an Institution to Bid to Host IPY International
Programme Office
The International Council for Science (ICSU) is inviting offers for an
institution to host an International Programme Office in support of IPY
2007-2008. Detailed information is posted at:
http://www.us-ipy.org
Offers must address all the issues listed and meet the requirements
outlined. ICSU requires that all applications be submitted by the
hosting nation's National Committee in two parts. By Tuesday, 31 August
2004, please submit an Expression of Interest. By Tuesday, 28 September
2004, please submit a Full Proposal. All interested applications must be
received by the Polar Research Board/US National Committee for IPY,
which will forward them to ICSU by its Thursday, 30 September 2004
deadline.
Both parts of the application should be sent to:
Chris Elfring
celfring [at] nas.edu
FULL ANNOUNCEMENT
The International Council for Science (ICSU) is pleased to invite offers
via ICSU National Members, National IPY Committees, or IPY National
Points of Contact to host an International Programme Office (IPO) in
support of the International Polar Year 2007-2008. For more information
on IPY, please see:
http://www.ipy.org
The function of the of the IPO will be, in conjunction with WMO (World
Meteorological Organization) staff, to support the anticipated joint
ICSU-WMO IPY committee tasked with the oversight and guidance of the IPY
planning and implementation.
It is envisaged that IPO will be required to operate for at least 5
years starting as soon as possible and extending beyond the period of
field activities (1 March 2007 - 1 March 2009).
Prospective applicants are requested to send an Expression of Interest
via their National IPY Committee or IPY National Point of Contact not
later than Tuesday, 31 August 2004. Detailed offers in the form of a
completed template (available at http://www.us-ipy.org) are requested to
reach ICSU no later than Thursday, 30 September 2004.
Background
ICSU and WMO are committed to co-sponsoring an International Polar Year
in 2007-2008, which will include major research activities in both polar
regions and a substantial range of outreach and education programmes.
The International Planning Group (PG), formed by ICSU in May 2003, has
been active in establishing the characteristics defining the Polar Year.
It has produced an initial Outline Science Plan and is now developing
recommendations for establishing an implementation strategy including
outreach and education elements. The PG is currently soliciting comments
on the Science Plan, which is available at http://www.ipy.org; comments
should be sent to jcel [at] bas.ac.uk by Wednesday, 1 September 2004.
This group will complete its work in September 2004 and will be
succeeded before the end of the year by a joint ICSU-WMO IPY committee
tasked with taking the planning and implementation activities forward
and supporting the organizational structure for IPY.
The IPY Planning Group has identified the urgent need for an
International Programme Office, and the February 2004 meeting of the
ICSU Executive Board tasked the Planning Group with establishing an IPY
IPO at the earliest opportunity.
The WMO as a proposed co-sponsor of IPY also intends to provide
administrative support for its IPY activities. It is therefore
anticipated that a distributed IPO, shared between ICSU and WMO, will be
established.
Functions of the International Programme Office for IPY 2007-2008
Overall,
- To provide active support to the ICSU-WMO joint IPY committee for the
central planning, coordination, oversight, and guidance
Specifically;
- To support the meetings and activities of the joint ICSU-WMO IPY
committee
- To act as the central Point of Contact for IPY National Committees,
related international programmes, and all participating or interested
organizations and individual researchers
- To organize and/or coordinate international meetings and workshops on
the IPY
- To promote the IPY internationally by all appropriate means
- To coordinate the dissemination and uptake of research outputs across
IPY
- To facilitate the acquisition of funding to sustain the IPY
coordination and oversight structure
- To support the development of outreach and education programmes
through development of IPY branding and through coordinating the
creation of promotional material
- To support and maintain the IPY website
The International Programme Office will also support the joint committee
by providing the following functions:
- Organization and recording of key meetings
- Central handling of correspondence
- Tracking of action items
- Archiving of key documentation
- Maintenance of an IPY activities database
- Financial management of the central budget
- Maintenance of the IPY website and preparation of newsletters
- Assistance in production of reports and synthesis documents
The minimum staffing of the IPO is envisaged as an Executive Director, a
webmaster / media specialist, and an administrative assistant. In spite
of the need to establish the IPO as soon as possible, the position of
the Executive Director will be advertised internationally.
IPY National Committees / National IPY Points of Contact are encouraged
to submit Expressions of Interest to ICSU by Tuesday, 31 August 2004.
The deadline for full offers is Thursday, 30 September 2004. The latter
should provide detail of the offer being made available by using the
template available at http://www.us-ipy.org. Selection criteria will
include:
- Level of scientific overlap between the host organization and IPY and
the institution's reputation and track record
- Overall attractiveness of the offer including duration, number of
positions, and funding level, including in-kind support
- Earliest start date